Background
HMRC has always had a difficult relationship with salary sacrifice arrangements. On the one hand it acknowledges that such arrangements are a legitimate way of employees and employers reducing their tax liability, whilst on the other hand it has looked for ways in which to reduce the amount of tax leakage occurring from such arrangements.
Salary sacrifice arrangements are effected by a formal written variation or amendment to a contract of employment, such that the employee agrees to receive a lower salary in return for the provision of a non-cash benefit. 这样的安排过去常常导致省税, because the tax payable on the non-cash benefit was less than the tax payable on the salary which the employee gave up.
然而, 自2017年4月6日起，人力资源管理委员会通过引入与可选薪酬安排(“仅”)有关的立法，试图减少这种税收节省的情况. The legislation is brief but has the potential to give rise to unexpected tax charges.
虽然它已经生效一段时间了, 对于那些希望在困难和不稳定的市场条件下利用节税薪酬结构的雇主来说，仅可能会变得越来越重要. 我们注意到，许多客户正在寻求引入非现金福利奖励员工的安排，以换取先前的工资或奖金.
从表面上看, 如果提供福利比支付现金更便宜，雇主就会节省现金流，如果福利从长远来看更有价值，员工可能会受到诱惑.g. 就股份而言). 然而, these are the sorts of arrangements potentially caught by 仅 and therefore could lead to unexpected tax consequences.
仅
仅涵盖两种薪酬牺牲安排:
‘Type A’ arrangements where an employee gives up the right or future right to receive earnings in return for a benefit; and
‘Type B’ arrangements where an employee agrees to be provided with a benefit rather than an amount of earnings.
仅 therefore has the potential to capture arrangements other than the usual salary sacrifice arrangements described above. 特别是, “B类”安排可能适用于员工在新聘或晋升的情况下有能力选择不同的福利方案(额外工资或非现金福利)的情况.
一些好处, 比如养老金缴款, continue to be excluded under 仅 and employers and advisors will need to be familiar with these exclusions, 作为一种税收效率仍然可以实现, if an employee enters into a legitimate salary sacrifice arrangement, 这些福利在哪里提供.
If the arrangement in question is either a Type A or a Type B arrangement and the benefit being provided is not excluded, 那么，仅规则的效果是使放弃的现金金额或福利的现金等价物金额较高的人需要缴纳所得税和1A类NICs(通常需要在表格P11D上报告)。.
仅的潜在问题
例1:雇主让现有员工选择是否拥有移动电话，以换取员工放弃一些工资来支付部分电话费用.
This is likely a Type A arrangement as the employee has given up existing salary in return for a non-cash benefit. The provision of a mobile telephone is not a benefit which is excluded from 仅, therefore the taxable amount is the higher of the cash amount foregone or the taxable amount of the benefit. The provision of a single mobile telephone by an employer is a tax-exempt benefit, 因此收益的现金等价物为零. The taxable amount is therefore the amount of salary which has been given up. 虽然这看起来是反主动的, 这一安排将导致一笔税费的产生, 即使提供的非现金福利是免税的(这对雇员或雇主来说都不是一个好结果).
Example 2: an existing employee is promoted to a senior position and agrees a new remuneration package. The employee is given the choice of a company car (emissions exceeding 75g/km of C02) or additional salary. 员工选择公司的汽车.
This is likely a Type B Arrangement as the employee has agreed to be provided with a non-cash benefit rather than additional salary. The provision of a company car (other than with ultra-low emissions) is not a benefit which is excluded from 仅. 因此, 应纳税金额为公司汽车的现金等价物(在本例中修改为忽略出资)和放弃的工资金额中较高者. There is likely to be no tax benefit to the employer to this type of arrangement.
例3:让我们使用前面的例子, but pretend that this is a new employee being hired for a senior position, 协商的薪酬方案包括一辆公司汽车(二氧化碳排放量超过75克/公里)，因此工资再次调整.
再一次。, 这很可能是B类安排, as the employee has agreed to be provided with a non-cash benefit rather than earnings. 这是与新员工谈判的一揽子计划并不重要，因为仅适用于在雇佣开始之前或之后达成的安排. 因此, the taxable amount is the higher of the cash equivalent amount of the company car and the amount of salary given up (see example 2).
Examples 2 and 3, give rise to a number of practical headaches. 高级雇员的薪酬方案往往需要协商，因此雇员往往可以有一定程度的选择. 几乎, 很难看出HMRC将如何计算出在这些情况下放弃的收入(如果这些收入一开始就不存在)。. Working out the amount foregone is easy in respect of a traditional salary sacrifice arrangement, where the employee has actually given up something tangible in return for a non-cash benefit, 如例1所示, but it is not so easy where the employee has given something up they were never entitled to (they only might have received).
如果根据其他地区的情况来看, HMRC will look at this issue in the round and consider all of the relevant factors, before making a judgment as to what earnings have been given up in these cases, 在这样做的过程中，大概HMRC必须根据雇主在类似情况下(类似于在转让定价规则制度下它将采用的定价调整机制)向雇员支付的公平条款做出判断。. 在我们看来, 这里的关键是，要确保在签订任何合同之前，薪酬方案就已经敲定，而且至关重要的是，雇佣合同本身不能包含任何选择.
Example 4: an employer decides he needs to incentivise a key employee. The employer enters into talks with the key employee to negotiate a remuneration package. 员工可以选择获得奖金或成长型股票. 员工选择增长型股票. 这些都是没有投票权的, do not carry a right to receive a dividend and entitle the employee to participate in the capital of the company, 如果公司被清盘或出售, but only if the company is worth a certain amount at that point (the ‘hurdle amount’).
雇主通常使用股票来留住和激励关键员工(这种方法只可能在经济不确定时期变得更受欢迎，因为许多雇主都担心现金和现金流。, 因为这种提供利益的方法通常对雇主来说几乎没有成本——实际上是股东通过稀释他们的股份来真正提供利益)。.
成长型股票有时更受青睐，因为在发行时它们的市场价值很少或根本没有(因为公司的价值低于门槛金额)。. 相应的, 在获得股票时，没有什么可征税的一般收益(并且根据2003年所得税(收入和养老金)法案第7部分的未来费用通常可以通过根据该法案第431条进行选举来避免)。. 然而, 这种安排有可能属于B类安排，因为雇员同意获得非现金福利而不是收入. 因此, 根据仅的规定，应纳税金额等于雇员放弃的奖金和雇主所提供的福利的成本中较高者.
结论
HMRC has tried to cover all bases when it comes to salary sacrifice arrangements and unfortunately this comes at a cost, 其代价是，为制止使用这种安排而制定的立法在其适用方面造成了一些法律和实际的不确定性. 雇主和顾问需要注意这一点，在与现有或潜在员工同意或修改薪酬或激励方案之前，应征求法律意见. 雇主和顾问也应该意识到，仅仅因为提供给员工的福利价值微不足道，这并不一定就能消除立即缴纳税款的风险, if the employee has given up earnings in return for the benefit.
